Best Cigar Prices Reveals the History of the Cigar

Best Cigar Prices, a leading online distributor of brand name, premium cigars and cigar humidors, has gone back to the beginning to reveal the history of the cigar in a new article on their site titled “The History of the Cigar.”

Lit cigar

“Everyone knows what a cigar is and which cigars are the best, but do you know where cigars came from or why certain types are so popular?” said Dianna Scolaro, Director of Marketing for BestCigarPrices, “This article sheds some light on the answers to those questions plus much more.”

“The History of the Cigar” discusses how the cigar came to Europe (tobacco was believed to first be smoked by the Mayans) and how cigars quickly spread to the rest of the world. It also covers the ban of Cuban cigars in the U.S. and the resurgence of the cigar in the 1990s.

When Columbus happened upon the Americas in 1492, he also discovered tobacco. Columbus packed up some of his newly discovered tobacco and returned to Spain, where the Spaniards perfected the methods of making cigars and pipes. Upon discovering Cuba, Columbus had claimed it for Spain, and in the 17th century the Spanish mandated that all tobacco for export be registered in Seville.

The U.S. had consumed nearly 300 million cigars by the mid-19th century, and many Cuban cigar-makers migrated to nearby Florida, where Tampa became known as the cigar capital of the world by the early 20th century. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy authorized a trade embargo with Cuba, and Cuban products were no longer legally available to United States citizens.

The 1990s saw a boom in cigar sales, with more and more celebrities portraying cigar smoking as stylish. Between 2000 and 2004, cigar consumption in the United States rose by more than 28%.